To be surprised DSs teacher claims Harry Potter are her favourite books?

[bluegreenruby]

She teaches English and I would surely have expected a little more sophistication from someone with an English degree?

I also have an Eng. Lit. Degree btw.

Well said Eemamc

She’s obviously trying to encourage the children to read them imo.
I used to work with reception-age children and if I was asked about my favourite book I’d have said Bear Hunt or something not 50 Shades of Grey (which I’ve never read but you eat the picture!)

*get the picture 😂

Why do you care about this? Do you have no life at all?

You must be pretty miserable to have to find things in your life to make up bitchy threads about.

You like what you like, irrespective of the perceived intellectual level of it.

It really is that simple.

Parents love to police teachers lives as much as they police how teachers teach in schools.

Good for her. My students can track my reading, as we all post notices in our classrooms of, "Mrs W is currently reading..." I read between 60 and 100 books a year, and my students will see when I am reading classics, or high quality non-fiction (one of my Year 7s noted that I had read multiple books on race and intersectionality this year, and I explained that it was a personal study for me this year. We had a great little class discussion for ten minutes).

Doesn't stop me re-reading the entire Harry Potter series every year, or telling them about it on the notices. Because I LOVE HP, it's one of my favourites and always will be. I'm of an age where I queued up at midnight for the new books with all my friends, and my students love to hear about all of that. Bloody hell, OP, perhaps undertake to realise that "favourite" has far more to do with emotional relationships with literature, and isn't necessarily much to do with the quality of the writing, or the status of the book as a classic.

I also teach Media and Film, and will gladly own that I think the best film ever made is Shawshank. Doesn't mean that my favourite film isn't Hot Fuzz! The only film I will happily watch, then rewatch again immediately afterwards.

My favorite books in the whole wide world are Magic Treehouse books read to me by a 6yo. I love them so very very much that when I have the opportunity to have them read out to me, I actually have to stop every thing I am doing and sit on the couch listening with a rapt expression on my face like the Soul's Awakening, and give exclamations of wonder every 20 seconds or so.

No, not really. But that is what I tell my 6yo.

I have an English degree. Reading is my favourite thing to do and I’ve read a huge variety of books. My favourite book, bar none, is The Stand by Stephen King. It’s the book I re-read at least once a year. For me it’s a huge nostalgia trip, it was the first book I read that completely gripped me as a young teen and I was genuinely sad when it ended. It’s not a great work of literature, it suffers from huge SK-elephantitus and goes on forever. But I love it.
As an aside my friend who is a head of music in a school ahd composes for tv shows and what not..his favourite band is Madness.

Yabu. I read lots and pretty broadly but my favourite book will always be Where the Wild Things Are for so many reasons.

My dd loves it when a teacher says that they love Harry Potter. It gives her an immediate point of connection, though less so if they are a Gryffindor . If they said they loved Shakespeare she wouldn't have that same shared understanding. It's not as if every English lesson they study Harry Potter, or every science lesson they make potions, or every History lesson they study the history of magic. Those books inspired them to read and for that I will always love them.

Just because books are aimed at children does not mean they are badly written. Unfortunately libraries and bookshops are proof that some editors and writers seem to think that children's books don't require any ability whatsoever.

The Harry Potter Books are really finely crafted, though my favourite books of all time are the Narnia series.

HP is not a children's book in my opinion, it is for everyone. They are probably my favourite books too and I am post grad, highly qualified and didn't read them when I was growing up, I read them in my thirties. I quite openly admit that my reading is not highbrow.

I am going on to my Ph.D. and Harry Potter would be my favourite book (series).

I grew up with them. I grew with the characters, got immersed in the world, and still feel the same feeling of excitement when I read them now that I did then.

I agree with others that you're a culture snob, and that's a shame for you.

Favourite is different than greatest though isn't it. My favourite books (ie those I read over and over and find really comforting) Are probably Harry Potter, little women, little hose on the prairie and pride and prejudice. If I was picking on a grander scale of best/most thought provoking/most moving etc I'd probably pick something by Atwood. It's not what I reach for when I'm snuggled up in bed with a cold though.

What a weird thing to be snobbish about! DH has a degree and a PhD on Maths - would you care to tell him what his favourite number is allowed to be? Is 4 OK, or should he have a more sophisticated favourite number? Maybe a whole equation? Yes, that's exactly how stupid your point sounds.

I have a degree in English Literature and have been teaching it for over twenty years. My favourite read? - Georgette Heyer. Partly because my day job is reading classic literature and books that suit your narrow view of sophistication. Yes, they are great reads, but at home, when I'm tired, I want to snuggle on the sofa with something comforting, warm, and just deeply enjoyable - that I don't have to analyse.

What's your job, OP? Are the things you do for work also your favourite things to do in your free time? If you're a dentist, do you look at people's teeth all day and then at the weekends do that for fun?

it's like someone with a degree in Music saying their favourite music is Little Mix

I have a music degree. I'm classically trained to grade 8 on one classical instrument and grade 5 on two more.

I play bass guitar in a punk band.

I absolutely love Harry Potter!
I am a complete super fan, the books are amazing and full of messages about bravery, friendship and loyalty.
I have an English Degree and wrote one of my assignments on HP and The Philosophers Stone.

If you genuinely find it that surprising that someone who obviously loves literature is a fan of such wonderful books that have inspired generations to read and love reading then I find that a bit odd tbh.

She LIED to connect with the children!
Surprised you didn’t realise that OP. I tell my 3 year old my favourite show is Peppa Pig.

It’s reallu not..

I tell children my favourite book is, 'Can't you sleep, little bear?'!

Intellect and personal taste are different things. I don't see what's wrong with anyone liking Harry Potter. Doesn't diminish intelligence or knowledge.

@Mistressfunbox....I love the typo of ‘little hose on the prarie’...that’s a whole different show.....

It’s a mistake to think there is necessarily less skill or ability needed to write a good book for children than a good book for adults. It’s a different thing to write for children, not easier or lesser.

Some of you are really angry about this. How strange. This isn't as personal for me as it appears to be for some of you.

LOL, YOU started the thread! And I can't see anyone who is 'angry;' just baffled and amused that anyone thinks intelligent people wouldn't read Harry Potter.

Harry Potter introduced reading to MASSES of children, teenagers, AND adults, who quite possibly would never have been really interested in reading. They are wonderful books. Have you ever actually read any of them? (I seriously doubt it, or you wouldn't be talking like you are!)

@EnidButton

Most people grow out of this kind of snobbery during their sixth form years when they learn that quoting Thomas Hardy and Proust doesn't make them an intellectual and isn't the equivalent of having a personality.

I'm afraid it also shows a deep lack of understanding of how reading and literature works. You're showing your ignorance.

If she had insisted her favourite was a known classic and hid the truth then I'd be more worried. It's good she openly says that she loves the Harry Potter series as you can be reassured she's not blinkered and prejudice when it comes to choosing which books to teach (if she has a choice.)

Great post. The only thing I would change about it, is in the first paragraph, I would have said 'most people grow out of this childish snobbery during sixth form years.^

I would put the OP at around 17-19 y.o. So maybe she is in sixth form.

bluegreenruby

I don't think starting the thread equates to being personally invested.

Errm yeah it does mean that actually.

@explodingkittensexpansion

Why do you care about this? Do you have no life at all? You must be pretty miserable to have to find things in your life to make up bitchy threads about

Took the words right out of my mouth. ^

Finally, as many posters have said, most of the people I know who read HP (over and over,) are the most intelligent, open-minded, intellectual, funny, witty, most interesting people I know. And most of them have a high level of education. Doesn't mean if you don't have a high level of education that you are not smart and funny obviously! I am just trying to make a point that people with good academic qualifications love Harry Potter. (As well as people without good academic qualifications.)

And no the teacher would not have LIED to the pupils. You cannot lie and pretend you like Harry Potter when you don't. The FANDOM will find you out verrrrry quickly!